Scope of geoscience education research (GER) and how it can be used: Community

perspectives

Laura A. Lukes, Ph.D.Assistant Director, Center for Teaching & Faculty Excellence

Assistant Professor, Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Earth SciencesGeorge Mason University

The big picture: Discipline-Based Education Research (DBER)

Discipline-Based Education Research (DBER):“investigates learning and teaching in a discipline from a perspective that reflects the discipline’s priorities, worldview, knowledge, and practices” (DBER Report, 2012)

Physics Education Research

(PER)

Chemistry Education Research

(CER)

Engineering Education Research

(EER)

Biology Education Research

(BER)

Math Education Research

(MER)

DBER is generally associated with STEM disciplines…

Geoscience Education Research (GER)

Astronomy Education Research (AER)

Situating geoscience education researchers in disciplinary expertise

EducationalPsychology

Geoscience

Teaching Practice

X

Source: Lukes, et al., 2015

Types of collaborationsType of collaboration Interdisciplinary Multidisciplinary Transdisciplinary

Description ‘‘Researchers interact with the goal of transferring knowledge from one discipline to another. Allows researchers to inform each other’s work and compare individual findings’’ (TREC)

‘‘Researchers from a variety of disciplines work together at some point during a project, but have separate questions, separate conclusions, and disseminate in different journals’’ (TREC)

‘‘Collaboration in which exchanging information, altering discipline-specific approaches, sharing resources and integrating disciplines achieves a common scientific goal (Rosenfield, 1992).’’

Example in GER

InTeGrate GARNET Van der Hoeven et al. (2011)

Sorting out research from practice

• Teaching practice

• “Scholarly”/Reflective practice

• Scholarship of Teaching & Learning (SoTL)

• Formal Research on Geoscience T & L

This is what I do…

I do this because evidence shows…

Did that go the way I wanted? Data says…Why/why not?

This was observed. We can measure it this way because…

(methods)

Previous work indicates…, let’s test it

in a new situation!

We systematically observed this. Data

indicate…

This is what I did and why. The data showed this and these are my thoughts on the experience &

how this could inform your practice.

PEER

REV

IEW

Situating geoscience education research in publications

EducationalPsychology

Geoscience

Teaching Practice

X

Source: Lukes, et al., 2015

Examples of practice

Resources/tools to use to support practice

Mechanics & logistics of pedagogy

GER in publication

• Study situated in literature-based context

• Conclusions/claims supported by evidence

Research Paper

Curriculum Paper

Theoretical: describing new

theories to fill gaps

Describe new instructional materials & evidence of

effectiveness

Scholarship of Teaching & Learning (SoTL)

Empirical: Data collection /

analyses to answer Q or test hypothesis

Review Paper

Instruction Paper

Describe new teaching

methods & evidence of

effectiveness

Commentary Paper

Approaches & methods to conducting GER

Variations in epistemologies and ontologies influence researcher choices regarding general approaches and specific methods for collecting/types of data collected and the data analysis techniques used to interpret data

Ontology = assumption about the nature of reality

Epistemology = set of assumptions about the relationship between the

“knower” and the “known”

ExamplesWhat are the key misconceptions in

geoscience & what are effective strategies to facilitate conceptual change?

How do novices differ from experts when visualizing and interpreting field data?

How are learning outcomes measured when K-12 educational standards are

changing?

What are the critical factors that influence a student to choose to major in

geoscience?

What do we know about the community so far?

What are members hoping to get from NAGT-GER?• Opportunities to network w/GERers • News about funding opportunities • News about GER conducted at other institutions • Strategies for developing GER program • PD on designing a GER project • PD on mixed and quantitative methods

Data source: NAGT-GER 2014 member needs survey (n=91)

What is a community of practice?

“group of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis” (Wegner, 2002)

Formal structures can facilitate and cultivate

community (but are not inherently community)

Why is a GER community needed?• GED community is

very broad and undefined (Feig, 2013)

• DBER folks have unique expertise, needs, and roles that create feelings of isolation (Feig, 2013)

EducationalPsychology

Geoscience

Teaching Practice

X

Source: Lukes, et al., 2014

Figure-Situating geoscience education researchers in disciplinary expertise

Community perspectives: Your turn!

• In your mind, what are the top two or three most important outcomes of GER? And why?

• How does GER inform your teaching or how might it?

• What do you wish you knew about GER practice and products?